How a 20-Year-Old Murder Finally Captured the World’s Attention

Jen Arbues

In 1999, Adnan Syed went to prison for killing his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. And at the time, news of the case stayed relatively local. But then came the “Serial” podcast in 2014 and a new HBO documentary in 2019. So now the Adnan Syed murder case is making headlines again…

The Crime

IMAGE BY: Wikipedia

Hae Min Lee was an 18-year-old high-school senior in Baltimore County, Maryland, at the beginning of 1999. On January 13 of that year, Lee failed to pick up her cousin from day care as planned. Less than a month later, her body turned up in a park nearby. Someone had strangled her to death.